Blast from the Past!

i've been doing a lot of soul searching lately because i'm kind of lost right now in my life! i've just completed a major milestone in my life and i'm trying to figure out what this next stage will bring! in my search, i've been doing a lot of looking at my past and trying to compare who i was then to who i am now and who i want to be in the future! this has lead me to find some really amazing gems of my past! this video is one such example! during my sophomore year at BYU-Idaho, i had the BEST roommates a girl could ask for! we were all so close and they are still my best friends to this day! Shanny, Kay, Becca and Megs- i love you!! i love this video because it reminds me of all of the good times that we had, but really, how much fun we did have! Everyday was a party and i loved every minute! Today i have been missing those times, thanks to many memory texts from Becca today :) and some other conversations i've had this past week, i'm remembering the good times and hoping for more!!

this video is just a brief glimpse of the fond memories i have in 308!

some of my favorite things from this video are:

Shan'tel's sweatpants that say, "You can't afford me" which she took a permanent marker to so that they read "You can afford me"!

Our winter lights in the background!

Shan'tel belting out "EGGGGSSSS"!

OUR HICK ACCENTS!

Kayla's laugh in the background!

Megs riding in on her horse! and her karate cartwheel!

and let's be honest- Becca's excellence as a director!

Above is Part 1 and below is Part 2 of this skit!

oh...how i love these friends! my life is forever better because I know you!

there are so many more videos i wish to post but i might crash my computer trying to put them all on! we had too many good times and i'm so glad that we documented so many!

i love you Megan, Kayla, Shan'tel and Becca!

this one's for you!

p.s. this last video is just a bonus! because i remember how much fun we had this night! and i'm missing our brothers like nobody's business! There is little i can say to make this video make sense- i have only three things to say, 1) John, 2) the Pope, 3) the KKK! :) Listen to those laughs!

To...

My Dear Friend Heather Hughes!

(pictured in the middle)

Today i found out that your father died, and today i have been thinking of you! You have known that this is coming for a while now- your dad had cancer and it came back again. But you were selfless and wanted him to go quickly so that he wouldn't suffer anymore!

How lucky we are that we have the Gospel and know that he is not gone, how lucky you are to have the Spirit and the peace that it has brought you in these last couple of months

and will continue to bring you!

How loved you are, by me and so many others-

your family, your friends and your Father in Heaven.

How blessed I am to know you! You are such a strong woman, and i admire you! i have always admired your close relationship with your Heavenly Father. When you pray, I know that He hears you because you know that He hears you! How blessed I was to be your roommate and to be your forever friend! From talking muffins and prodigal bamboo, to late night talks in my room, to sobbing fests in your room, to trips and adventures, to moving and moving on! You have been the truest friend to me these 4 years, and even though our paths have gone different directions, we are still friends!

You are going through a hard time right now, but you will get through with flying colors! because you have already showed me the strength that you have, because you know that

" death isn't as horrible as I thought it would be. It's really quite easy with the spirit."

You are so amazing! Only a strong, independent, humble person like you could feel that way! You help me realize that life is hard, but so good! I have my father with me, and my mom and my four brothers! I have a loving family and a nice house to live in. I have food and water and a job to go to. I am happy and healthy! and i have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life! and you have showed me that life is worth every minute that we have! I'm so glad that i have you in my life and i wish i could be there with you now!

but know that i love you dearly and am praying for you!

2010...

is off to a less than ideal start! here i am, a college graduate...living at home, unemployed and all of my future plans have come unraveled! so what is one to do?? a wise friend told me "write down things you are grateful for everyday and that will give you hope"! (or something like that) and Sam, you could not be more right! so at the end of my drab week and the beginning of a new, here is my list of wonderful things in my wonderful life!

BLANKETS!

my parents keep our home at a colder temperature than i did as a college student who didn't have to pay utilities! so because of that, we have blankets all over the house! we are always curled up in blankets, if we were not fashion conscious we would all own snuggies, but i think i can speak for all of us when i say, i would not be caught dead in a snuggie!

MY NEW LAPTOP!

this was the best graduation present! i am so glad that i don't have to use my grandpa laptop anymore! wireless internet is the best thing ever! at least with nothing else working in my life, i can always count on my laptop to come through for me! now if only i had some money to get her a new laptop skin...

A HOME TO LIVE IN!

quite honestly, i am glad that i am not homeless right now! my parents are kind enough to let me live at home until i figure out what i'm doing, which considering how much neither of us want it, is a huge thing to be grateful for! even when we were talking about me going back to school locally, they said that i could live here! never thought i would hear those words! that is how i know my parents love me...the fact that they haven't kicked me out yet!

MY BOYS!

as perhaps lame as it might sound, i am so glad that i have my little brothers! these guys are the only guys that i want to hang out with! this weekend, my parents went away for a night and i hung out with them! we had pizza and watched movies and did whatever we wanted and it was wonderful! Yes, i like hanging out with my 11, 14 and 17 year old brothers!

MY FRIENDS!

i have like zero friends in Nampa, but i do have some other places out there in the world! there are too many to name but all of you have been more than encouraging to me over the past couple of months! those of you who know me well know that i love school and the thought of finishing college was unnerving! but with all of your help, i feel that i can do this, i can make this transition and i can succeed! you all have such hope in me and it makes me almost believe it about myself! so thank you!

BABYSITTING!

Betsy, this may come as a shock, but i love babysitting your kids! ;) the other day I was holding Max and he got sleepy and fell asleep in my arms for a few minutes! it was at that moment that i realized that i REALLY want a baby and a family, and although i might not have it right now, when i always thought and hoped that i would, i will someday! and when that day comes, i will have beautiful babies like the one asleep in my arms and that's what i'm preparing for! and Heavenly Father must know that i need more preparation! but He also sends me a little girl to sit on my lap during church to tide me over in the meantime!

FAITH!

i don't know all the answers, heck, i don't know any answers! in the past week, i have found what i thought was a great job, turned down the job, questioned my whole career path, changed my whole career choice, gave up on a career, bawled my eyes out, hit half way to rock bottom and wanted to give up. and then i rerealized that if i have faith, everything will work out! i have no idea how, but i know the Lord does and that will have to be enough for now!

i'm sure that there will be many more times i need to make a list like this because i am nowhere close to being out of the woods for this trial... but i haven't hit rock bottom until i have to put that i'm grateful for guys that wear socks with their sandals on my thankful list! when that happens, know that i'm officially insane! until then, i'm thankful!

Graduation!

Well, i did it! On Friday and Saturday, I graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho! with a Bachelor's degree in psychology! It's such a surreal feeling, 4 and 1/2 years of college over and done! These college years have gone so fast, i can hardly believe it!

Friday, December 18, 2009 was a crazy day! i had to take the last two finals of my college career, run around campus to get graduation tickets and all before that night when i had my convocation with the Education and Human Development college- they read my name and i walked across the stage to get my diploma (cover)! and of course got to wear this most stylish outfit!

All of my family was able to come for my graduation! i was so happy to have them there with me on this big day! My parents, my brothers, both sets of grandparents and my dear aunt and uncle from Rexburg all came to support me and i was so glad!

Saturday, December 19, 2009 was the Commencement ceremony for all of the Fall 2009 graduates- there were 1270+ graduates! We lined up in the Fieldhouse and as we walked through the halls to the auditorium, our teachers lined the halls and clapped for us as we walked down the hall! It was such a cool experience because these teachers know my name and know me and really did care about me and my accomplishment! It was a really cool experience and I was so glad that i was able to go to this school and have this experience!

Graduation was a really great experience- there were excellent speakers and wonderful words of wisdom and a real feeling of accomplishment! It was a wonderful end to my hard working 4 and 1/2 years of college! President Clarke spake, Elder Johnson of the Seventy and Elder Richard G. Scott! (When his speech is posted on line, i will post my favorite parts!)

It was a wonderful weekend- i still don't feel old enough, wise enough or mature enough to be a college graduate but so it is! I'm sad that this stage has come to an end, it has been a wonderful time of my life, but i'm also excited for this next stage! There are so wonderful things to come...and i'll just have to wait and see what it is!

A Post!

I haven't written on my blog in the longest time, so i decided that i should at least post something since it has been so long, it might seem like i don't have a life! and sometimes i wonder the same thing! I have been deep into my last semester at BYU-I so i have only had that as my life! Most days i go from 9 or 10 until 6 or 7 nonstop!! thankfully after midterms, things have slowed down a little bit, but midterms just mean that the semester is coming to a quick end! i almost can't believe that i am graduating in December! i have to remind myself everyday, else i will probably not get anything done that i need to!

i'm in a stage right now where i am having to make some new goals for my life because i have achieved as many of my current goals as i can! New goals....anybody got any ideas!? I'm making a list of things that i want to do with my life and this is what i have so far-

Make a better Philo T. Farnsworth museum in Rigby, Idaho

Go to the Logan Temple and do baptisms for the dead

Take a cake decorating class

Go to graduate school

Graduate from college - check!

Pay off my school debt

Get married

Have kids

Go to a temple session in every temple in the United States

Be in the temple with all of my family

Buy a new car

Drive a convertible

Make a quilt

Read all of Jane Austen's books

(these are not necessarily in any kind of order!)

Go to see a Broadway play in New York

that's all i've got so far! if anyone has any ideas of great goals to have in life, let me know! i need some direction!

July 2009!

July has been the best month of the whole entire summer!

Why you ask?

Because my brother Brenen came home from his mission!

July 24th was the day! He has been on his mission in Paraguay for 2 years and now he is home! That day was one of the longest of my life- it's like waiting for Christmas, but even more exciting! He was supposed to get in at 6:30 Friday night but one of his flights was delayed and he didn't end up getting into Boise until 9:30 that night! Talk about anxious!

Here we are at the airport, so excited for our brother to come home! we are excited, even if it doesn't exactly look like that!

My parents were so excited! They were the most excited, but they were trying to play it cool!

Here he is! Elder Olsen, home at last! We couldn't believe that it was him! After two years, we thought he looked like a completely different person- he talked funny, and looked different, but in actuality, i think we were just in shock, because within 24 hours he looked and talked normal and completely like himself! He was just as much in shock as we were, all he could say was "oh my goodness!" i can't imagine what it would be like coming home after serving a mission for 2 years of your life!

The Olsen family is back together! I love this picture of all of the boys! I love my boys! We were so excited to have our whole family back together for the first time in over 2 years! What an exciting day- it really was better than Christmas! I was so happy, i just smiled all day!

What a sight! A whole slue of pre and post missionaries! and a great bunch of men! I am so proud of all of these great men in my life!

We picked up his luggage- (only 2 suitcases for two years, i don't know how that's possible)- and then got in the car and went home! that was it, that was all it took! He's home now and i'm so glad to have him home! i love my brother!

You're It!

Rebecca Wood Andersen- you keep me blogging! I have been told, on more than one occasion in the last month, that i don't update my blog enough! my response- i blog when i have time and something important to report! so now i have time and something to report, so get ready for a long blog post! Becca tagged me in this questionnaire and so i will entertain you all with my answers...i hope!

What is your current obsession? my current obsession is probably watching Psych! my family just went on vacation and spent 15 + hours in the car, all of which were spent watching season 3 of Psych! i suggest that everyone watch it, you'll love it! "Gus, don't be a gooey chocolate chip cookie" "That's some bad ju ju mc gumbo!" :) just watch it and see!

What do you hate (or dislike) the most that everyone else seems to love? Monopoly, i just don't have a desire to ever play that game and i've promised myself that i never will. i have no reason for hating it, i have just chose to dislike it!

What are you wearing today? my fav pair of jeans, a hot pink shade shirt and a ponytail! my excuse- we drove home all day today, i didn't get ready and had no reason to!

What's for dinner? we had Papa John's pizza, i chose pepperoni and chicken! pepperoni is the best!

What would you eat for your last meal? i love Italian Chicken! it's the best dish that i make, as well as the easiest! but it's jus my favorite thing- chicken and pasta! yummy!

What was the last thing you bought? a book- The Time Traveler's Wife

What are you listening to right now? Joshua Radin, but that's who not what

What do you think of the person who tagged you? Becca is such an amazing woman! I am so stinking jealous of her because she's smart and beautiful, has an awesome husband and is having a beatiful son, she's always trying to be and do her best and she most often succeeds!

If you could have a house fully paid for and totally furnished anywhere in the world, where would it be? Somewhere green and not too hot, maybe somewhere like Maine or Oregon! actually, i would love a house on the coast, so either the northwest or northeast!

If you could go anywhere for the next hour, where would it be? I really want to go to Utah and see Shan'tel! i really want to see her and her new apartment and just spend the night talking like we used to! i miss you Shanny!

What is one of your hobbies? I love to read-it really doesn't matter what it is, i just love having a book in my hand and a story to read!

What are three things that annoy you most? 1- people who have to be the center of attention and have to be in the spotlight, 2-people who aren't flexible and have to always be right, 3- people who don't do what they say they will or what they are responsible for

What is your favorite color? blue, not entirely original, but nonetheless my favorite

What is your favorite item of clothing in your wardrobe? i have a lot of clothes so it's hard to choose...Practical? jeans, i love a comfy pair of jeans Impractical? my red velvet high heels

What are you going to do after this? go to bed

What is your favorite fruit? either strawberries or bananas! or both together!

What inspires you? the chance to be better, to make a difference, to have a full life and be an inspiration to someone else

Who was the last person you kissed? no one, i have never been kissed and never kissed anyone!

What are you currently reading? The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

What delighted you the most today? hearing my family laugh and enjoy being together, all 7 of us back together!

I tag:
Megan
Shan'tel
Kayla
BreighAn